


if i never knew your name

by vaisja



Series: SAMBUCKY2019 [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Coffee Shops, M/M, Other chracters are there if you squint, SAMBUCKY2019, Written for SAMBUCKY2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-15 12:10:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20866016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vaisja/pseuds/vaisja
Summary: Bucky's stress can be narrowed down to three things: his thesis, the new barista at Bean There Done That, and the fact that they cannot get his fucking name right.Written for SAMBUCKY2019 Day 1: Coffee Shop





	if i never knew your name

**Author's Note:**

> Bucky is a senior at Georgetown University in DC. He's a history major and works for the History Department and spends most of his time holed up at the Edward B. Bunn, S.J. Intercultural Center aka as the ICC where the History Department lives. Sam is also a senior at Georgetown studying psychology. Bean There Done That is located where Crumbs and Whiskers is located irl. None of this matters to the actual story but I think it’s fun.
> 
> The ending kind of got away from me.
> 
> title is a neil diamond song that i've never listened to before but felt appropriate. 
> 
> also this isn't beta'd. yet.
> 
> Written for SAMBUCKY2019 Day 1: Coffee Shop

“Here you go, uh--dude.” The tiny kid making the drinks behind the counter says, pulling Bucky’s eyes away from his intense Words With Friends battle against Tony. Stark may be one of the youngest PhD candidates in MIT history, but goddamn did he suck at spelling. 

The kid—_Miles_, Bucky reads when he finally steps up to the counter—is holding out his PSL with an amused look on his face.

“Nice name, bro,” Miles grins.

“Eh, thanks?” Bucky says, hoping that it comes out as friendly. 

Miles nods and turns back around to his orders with a “Have a good day, man!”

Bucky shrugs and makes his way out of the little hole in the wall coffee shop. He’s not a stranger to comments about his name, especially not after a 5-year-old Steve christened him Bucky while they sat on the play carpet of their pre-school and he’s not exactly a regular—he’s what Natasha calls a “corporate slut” and likes Starbucks too much to be a regular—so the comment doesn’t register as odd.

Miles, who couldn’t have been older than a high school junior, had probably never seen the name before. 

Bucky takes a sip of his PSL and lets the sweetness rest on his tongue for a second before he begins the 10-minute trek back to campus. 

It doesn’t register to him until he’s ear deep into editing the introduction to his thesis (again) that he gave his name as James. 

He looks up from his laptop to where his empty cup is sitting on a print out of an early draft. 

The cup says _Gains_. 

— 

Bucky holds the door open for a stroller and a harried-looking mom who takes the time to toss him a smile before she’s hurrying down the street. There are a total of two people in the shop not counting the workers; which makes sense as it’s cold as fuck outside, even for September. Bucky almost hadn’t come, had even thought about drinking some of the shitty coffee they had in the study center of the ICC before deciding that his PSL was worth risking frostbite for. 

The barista is new. Well. Not new-new, Bucky’s pretty sure it was the same guy who served him the last time he came in. The New Guy is an attractive dark-skinned guy who flashes Bucky a bright gap-toothed smile as he stops in front of him. Bucky might be a little in love. 

New Guy’s name tag says Sam and Bucky is so distracted thinking about how that name fits so well that he almost misses Sam’s “Hey man, what can I get you?” 

“PSL with an extra shot,” Bucky says, returning Sam’s smile almost instinctually. 

“Cool. Can I get a name?” He asks uncapping the Sharpie with his mouth which honestly shouldn’t be as hot as it is. 

Bucky thinks about it. He could say James but there is a reason why people call him Bucky. There are thousands of James in the world, there’s nothing special about James. So he settles with Bucky. 

Sam nods, unimpressed, and Bucky absolutely does not feel a little stupid. “Alright, man. I’ll have that out for you in a sec.”

Once again Bucky is pulled away from his phone screen with the call of “PSL for uhm. Blo- Blorky?”

Bucky pockets his phone with a frown and takes his drink from the counter, shooting a look over at the register but Sam has disappeared somewhere to the back of the store.

— 

It happens again, and again, and again. 

Binky

Barney

Broccoli

As another deadline for his edits approaches, the more Bucky goes to Bean There Done That, and the more infuriating is Sam’s grin every time he asks “PSL for Bucky, right?” before his drink is called with a name that is decidedly not Bucky. 

So Bucky starts changing it up on him. Says, “For James, actually” or “No, Barnes” and the names just keep getting more ridiculous: Yames, Lames, Borns, Barn, Bans. 

He tries Buchanan once, a dumb choice on Bucky’s part, and gets _Butt-anon_ for his troubles. 

When he complains to Steve about it, he just laughs. Tony tells him he’s probably being flirted with. Nat snorts before asking him for his notes on their Peace and Justice seminar. 

He needs new friends. 

The worst part. The absolute most horrible thing is that Bucky kind of maybe sort of has a crush on Sam. He’s definitely become a regular now, at least to Sam’s shift, and sometimes if the place isn’t busy they’ll talk about their days and about how they both took Dr. Irving’s Sociology 201 their freshman year that was absolute hell or about how Sam actually knows Steve because they played on the same little league baseball team the summer Bucky went to Indiana to visit his grandparents. 

But after all of that, all of their conversation and maybe, possible flirting Sam still writes _Blinky_ on the cup and disappears into the back room before Bucky can say anything. 

The day of his deadline—almost two months after Bucky and Sam begin whatever it is they’re doing—Bucky walks into Bean There Done That 30 minutes before closing time. Sam is the only person behind the counter—the only person in the shop apart from Bucky—and he’s shimmying along to the overhead music as he wipes down the counter. 

Bucky orders his drink and tries to follow along with Sam’s small talk. He tries not to be an asshole despite the stress and frayed nerves but fuck it’s hard. His advisor said that after all of the drafts Bucky’s turned in _wouldn’t he like to make some changes to the statement? It feels bland. Maybe restructure the body so it doesn’t feel like a takedown of the US government?_ and Bucky is honestly done with the day. He just wants his drink and to go back to his hole in the ICC and cry. 

Sam seems to pick up on his non-responses and lets the conversation drop as he sets the drink on the counter before turning to walk to the back room like always. Bucky takes the drink, centers on the word _Bonkey _and absolutely loses it.

“Sam, what the fuck?” He can’t tell if his voice comes out as angry or tired but there’s enough emotion behind it that it makes Sam turn back around, a worried look on his face. “Is—is this some kind way to annoy me into not coming anymore? Did I do something?”

“Man, what?”

“You obviously know my name. My names, in fact! And yet I feel like I’m being bullied like a middle schooler. Which honestly shouldn’t hurt but have you ever met a middle schooler, they’re assholes.” Bucky can’t stop his ranting now, he keeps going at it. He just wants to know what he did to perfect, beautiful Sam to have his name misspelled for two months. “—I thought we were, I don’t know, getting friendly? Maybe becoming friends? Is this your way of pushing me back? Because I can stop coming during your shifts. I’m not gonna not come anymore because this is the only place that serves spiced lattes all year, but I’ll stop coming around when you're here—”

“Bucky!” Sam exclaims and wow, he’s made it out from behind the counter and Sam’s holding his wrist lightly, steadying his shaking hand so the drink doesn’t spill. Bucky had been expecting the anxiety attack for a while but goddamn this was a dumb place to have it. “Bud, hey. You’re alright.” Sam kicks out a chair from one of the tables and leads Bucky to sit down. 

Bucky takes some deep breaths as Sam places the drink on the table and takes the seat in front of him. “Better?”

“Yeah,” he nods shakily, bunching his fist around the thick fabric of his coat. 

“Man, this sucks,” Sam says, puffing his cheeks before letting out a frustrated breath. His brow is furrowed and his eyes are worried. Bucky definitely has a crush on him. “Alright. Okay. I don’t hate you. I don’t want you to stop coming by.”

“Then what—”

“I’m a bad flirt,” Sam says and he looks away. Bucky thinks Sam might be blushing.

“Flirt?”

“I. I thought it would be funny? If I just kept messing up your name so you kept checking the cup until I built enough courage to write my number on there? I didn’t think I would be giving off a bad impression. Or that it would trigger an anxiety attack. I’m sorry.”

Bucky can’t breathe again. But this time it isn’t as bad. “You were flirting with me?”

“Well, trying,” Sam chuckles. He turns Bucky’s cup. Below the _Bonkey_ is a phone number and a _Wanna go out sometime?_

Bucky is definitely blushing. “I’m free now,” he says, thinking about an eighty-page paper he will have to re-write at some point if he wants to graduate next quarter.

Sam grin and says, “Let me close the shop.” 

— 

The name changes don’t stop. Sam is too much of an asshole for that but on the day of his defense presentation, Sam walks into the ICC study center with _Barky_ scarwled neatly on his PSL cup and a reassuring smile. 

**Author's Note:**

> Want to participate in SAMBUCKY2019? Find out how [here](https://twitter.com/samnbucky/status/1177968186458701830?s=20)


End file.
